Custom Branding + Website Redesign for a Vacation Rental Company Serving the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee + the Emerald Coast of Florida
Bliss Vacations is a boutique vacation rental company in the Smoky Mountains, just beginning to expand into the Emerald Coast of Florida. This project was special to me because I actually went to high school with Brittany and Cody, the owners. Even though I now live in Norway and hadn’t seen each other in years, reconnecting and helping her take Bliss to the next level felt full circle.
It also became one of my favorite branding projects to date. The typography alone carried so much intentionality; the way the “b” and “l” connected in the Bliss logo was a subtle detail, but the kind that makes a brand unforgettable. In a sea of vacation rental companies, I wanted Bliss to stand out, and I knew the beauty was in those little touches that make a brand feel both polished and memorable.
When Brittany reached out, she was in a tough spot. Their old website company wasn’t answering emails, wasn’t taking calls, and wasn’t willing to make updates. Halfway through planning their rebrand and new website, things got worse: the other company pulled their entire website down. Overnight, Bliss had no online home. No place for guests to find them, no way to showcase properties, no way to book.
For a vacation rental company, that’s devastating. And it meant we had to jump into high gear.
Client Goals
- Replace the old website immediately with something modern, polished, and guest-friendly.
- Build a brand identity that reflects boutique hospitality while competing with Airbnb and VRBO.
- Design property listings that made booking simple, with photography, amenities, and clear calls-to-action.
- Get integrated into a new property management system without disruption.
- Streamline their business systems with professional email and branded communication.
- Optimize property descriptions for SEO on their website, while also creating shortened versions for VRBO and Airbnb.
- Launch a site with SEO baked in, from meta titles and descriptions to tags and featured images.
- Work with a team that actually shows up, answers calls, and guides them through the process.


The Brand Direction
We built the Bliss Vacations brand around the idea of hospitality and welcome. Their logo suite included flexible variations, and the custom logo mark featured a door, a symbol of opening new experiences, new destinations, and unforgettable stays.
On the website side, speed was everything. We immediately launched a temporary site to get Bliss back online, then designed a full WordPress + Elementor Pro website with direct booking flows, property management integration, and SEO built into every page.
Behind the scenes, we set up a Google Business email to replace their personal @gmail account. We migrated their inboxes, forwarded old emails so nothing was missed, and created custom email signatures so the owners and their business manager could communicate consistently and professionally.
For their property listings, we wrote SEO-optimized versions for the website, and also created shortened, platform-friendly descriptions for VRBO and Airbnb — so they could shine both on their site and across third-party platforms.
And through it all? We picked up the phone, answered emails at all hours, and showed Bliss what it was like to have a team that truly had their back.
Favorite Details
- The typography in the logo, where the connection between the “b” and the “l” was transformed into the custom door mark — a subtle, symbolic detail that tied the whole brand together.
- A logo system that felt polished yet approachable, with variations for flexibility across print, digital, and property signage.
- A coastal-meets-mountain color palette that reflected both of Bliss’s markets.




Together, we created:
- A custom brand identity with a coastal-meets-mountain palette and flexible logo suite.
- A unique logo mark, created by connecting the “b” and “l” in Bliss to form a door symbol — representing welcome, hospitality, and unforgettable stays.
- A temporary website to get Bliss back online immediately after their old site was taken down.
- A full WordPress + Elementor Pro website with polished design, modern property pages, and direct booking flows.
- Property management integration — originally a custom-built Hostfully plugin, later re-engineered for Owner Rez when the client switched systems mid-launch.
- SEO-optimized property listings with long-form versions for the website and shortened, platform-friendly versions for VRBO and Airbnb.
- A site launched with SEO best practices baked in: meta titles, descriptions, tags, and featured images ready from day one.
- Google Business email setup, migrating them from a personal Gmail account, forwarding old inboxes, and creating custom branded email signatures for the owners and their business manager.
The Outcome
Bliss Vacations launched with a brand and website they could be proud of. More than that, they gained stability, a reliable site, professional systems, and property listings that worked across platforms.
This project wasn’t just about design. It was about support, trust, and helping a friend move her business forward. For the first time, Bliss had a team that answered, delivered, and made them feel supported. That foundation allowed them to step confidently into their next chapter, expanding from the Smoky Mountains into the Emerald Coast.